4727.0.55.001 - Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey: First Results, Australia, 2012-13  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 27/11/2013  First Issue
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KIDNEY DISEASE

Kidney disease occurs when the nephrons inside a person's kidneys, which act as blood filters, are damaged. Kidney disease is closely associated with other long-term health conditions, such as diabetes and hypertensive disease (high blood pressure), and risk factors such as smoking and obesity, all of which are more prevalent in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population than in the non-Indigenous population (Endnote 1).


RESULTS FROM 2012–13

In 2012–13, around one in fifty (2%) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people reported having kidney disease.

Similar proportions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males and females had kidney disease (both about 2%).

Among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged less than 45 years, the rate of reported kidney disease was slightly less than 1% (or less than one in 100 people). The prevalence of kidney disease was significantly higher among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 45 years and over (6%).

KIDNEY DISEASE BY BROAD AGE GROUP, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people—2012–13
Graph: Kidney Disease by Broad Age Group


In 2012–13, similar rates of kidney disease were reported by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in non-remote and remote areas (both about 2%).


CHANGE OVER TIME

The prevalence of kidney disease in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population did not change significantly between 2001 and 2012–13 (rates of 1% and 2%, respectively).


HOW DO THESE RATES COMPARE WITH THE RATES FOR NON-INDIGENOUS PEOPLE?

After adjusting for differences in age structure between the two populations, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were significantly more likely than non-Indigenous people to have kidney disease (rate ratio of 3.7).

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males were four times as likely as non-Indigenous males to have kidney disease (rate ratio of 4.0), while for females the rate ratio was slightly lower at 3.5.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 45–54 years were three times as likely as non-Indigenous people in this age group to have kidney disease. Among people aged 55 years and over, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were 4.4 times as likely as non-Indigenous people to have kidney disease.


ENDNOTE

1. http://www.kidney.org.au/kidneydisease/tabid/578/default.aspx - accessed 11 November 2013



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